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Pippi Longstocking, the creation of Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren, first appeared in print in 1945, and the reading public immediately took the pigtailed, fearless, nine-year-old to their hearts. But the Longstocking books that followed - 75 in total - might never have happened if Lindgren had not hurt her ankle in 1944. While recuperating, she decided to write down the stories with which she had entertained her daughter during the war, many of which were based on her own childhood in rural Sweden in the 1920s. Lindgren once wrote, 'A childhood without books - that would be no childhood. That would be like being shut out from the enchanted place where you can go and find the rarest kind of joy.' Accordingly Lindgren invented a world for Pippi which is at once strange and immediately appealing to child readers; Pippi lives in Villa Villekulla in Gotland, Sweden, an only-child in a parentless household. But she is not alone, for she shares her home with two housemates, a lively dappled horse and a monkey. Pippi's adventures often take place in the company of her closest friends Annika and Tommy. Lindgren was known as a campaigner for children's and animal rights, and this year will see her legacy celebrated with at least two new stage shows and an exhibition at the Discover Children's Story Centre in Stratford, London in the summer. The Longstocking books were an immediate hit and international fame for their author followed; Lindgren has sold more than 70 million books in 70 languages and has even had the uncommon distinction of having an asteroid named after her - '3204 Lindgren'. Image copyright, www.astridlindgren.com

Why not sign up now to be a part of our latest Book Club Quiz? Between March and June this year thousands of book-lovers all over the country will have a go at our 3rd annual quiz. We've put together our best-ever quiz questions - we've even had help from top author Sophie Kinsella, who has provided us with some real teasers to test your literary knowledge. Register to take part and we'll provide the questions and a few simple instructions - all you have to do is get your friends together for an evening of fun and fundraising. Previous quizzers said "We had such a good evening and we've never laughed so much!". Visit our 'how you can help' pages to find out more and to register. Photo © John Swannell

Do you ever wonder why women are the main buyers and readers of fiction, are more likely to join bookclubs than men, and are more likely to attend literary festivals and visit literary landmarks than men? It's a strange conundrum; we know from contact with our volunteers how passionately both sexes feel about the importance of reading (although we have more female Schoolreaders than male, men are strongly represented on our team). A new book by Helen Taylor, an experienced teacher, scholar of women's writing, and literature festival director, draws on over 500 interviews with and questionnaires from women readers and writers and attempts to draw some conclusions about our reading habits. In 'Why Women Read Fiction: The Stories of our Lives', Taylor describes how, where, and when British women read fiction, and examines why stories and writers influence the way female readers understand and shape their own life stories. She even treads on hallowed ground and tries to explain why, through the decades, 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'Jane Eyre' consistently top polls of women's favourite novels. Ian McEwan once declared that 'When women stop reading, the novel will be dead'. Thankfully, with annual UK books sales hovering around the £3 billion mark for the last 5 years, this isn't a prospect we need to worry about, but in any case we at Schoolreaders beg, on behalf of our male readers, to differ. Taylor's book is however a lovely analysis of why so many contemporary women treasure their reading time and count their best-loved books as some of their most precious possessions. 'Why Women Read Fiction: The Stories of Our Lives' by Helen Taylor, published by Oxford University Press on 5th December 2019.

If you're involved with Schoolreaders, either as a reading volunteer or as a member of staff at one of our partner schools, you will know that we regularly ask you to provide us with feedback on your experience of the scheme. You may wonder what happens to your responses. The information you send us is all carefully analysed, and anyone who raises any questions is contacted by one of our team. We're delighted to say that we've just finished collating your 2019 feedback and the great news is that it seems as if schools and volunteers feel increasingly positive about Schoolreaders and are delighted with the educational and personal benefits brought by the scheme. Of course we don't want to be complacent but we thought you would be as pleased as we are to see the following statistics! We're always keen to hear from you and there is no need to wait until you are next asked for feedback to get in touch... do give us a ring on 01234 924111; we'd love to hear from you.

On 3rd December Joanna Trollope, best-selling author of 17 novels, joined us for a lunch in the spectacular surroundings of the Sculpture Gallery at Woburn Abbey. 220 guests enjoyed a delicious lunch and then listened to Joanna, who has worked for many years to further the cause of good literacy, deliver a speech on the difficulties of turning today's children into fluent readers. Joanna feels that a culture has developed in the playground - and in some cases even in homes - that sees reading an uncool, and that scorns children who work hard at their reading. For Joanna dispelling these attitudes and providing reading support for each and every child that needs it are crucial steps towards achieving good literacy for all. Joanna went on to talk about her own writing; she revealed that she always writes in longhand, picking up whatever pen is closest - she admits pilfering biros from hotel rooms when in dire need. She mines real situations for plot ideas, then works up her first few chapters in detail. Next she writes the concluding chapters of each book, and once the beginning and end are securely down, she lets the middle bits 'write themselves'. Our guests loved meeting Joanna, who kindly signed lots of her books, and we are most grateful to her for giving up her time to support us.

An exhibition of new works by Quentin Blake opened at Shapero Books in London last week. An Anthology of Readers features 72 pen, ink, and watercolour drawings focusing on people of all ages in the process of reading; here they are in Quentin Blake's inimitable style, either thoroughly engrossed, lost in thought or half asleep, and in postures that vary from deeply relaxed to edge-of-the-chair alert. Sir Quentin says 'Reading is interesting to me and as it happens it is the only thing in which I have a qualification, a Cambridge degree... '. Prints of four of the works, each in a limited edition of 25, are on sale and a fully illustrated book has also been published by Shapero to coincide with the exhibition, with historian Simon Schama contributing an introduction. The show runs at Shapero Rare Books, 32 St. George Street, Mayfair, London until December 21st.

We are delighted that one of our Schoolreaders, John Steele, has sent us a poem in which he explores his volunteering experience. John's observations on the 'swooping, diving, circling' of a flight of swallows will chime with many of you who volunteer in busy schools. It is not just in the avian world that youngsters go 'shooting by without pause'. Reading John's work caused us to reflect on other poetry about reading and books; many writers have felt the urge to record their passion for books in verse, but we haven't found any other poems about the actual process of learning to read. John's description of sounding out, breaking up syllables and joining them back together ready for ultimate regurgitation is memorable and thought provoking. John's poem, 'Swallows', is published below, and is followed by works by Dylan Thomas and Emily Dickinson which sum up those writers' wonderment at the power of reading and books. Swallows By John Steele I discover only later the collective noun for them is 'flight' (obvious really) swooping,diving, circling each an eyelid's flicker around the balcony where I sit. Shooting without pause into a nest's entrance secreted where a brick pillar a fall-pipe and a slatted wooden roof meet. Their performance lasts only minutes long grabbing insects, feeding young. Twice a week Year 2 children come to me every ten to twelve minutes for me to hear them read. Gently,respectfully,we meet the unfamiliar word rolling our tongues around its sharp and knobbly bits. 'Break it up' say I, 'into bite-sizes; chew it and regurgitate it'. And after a while out it plops on to an empty page - mangled. We look at it, pick it up,stick it together - and pop it back in! Notes on the Art of Poetry By Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) I could never have dreamt that there were such goings-on in the world between the covers of books, such sandstorms and ice blasts of words, such staggering peace, such enormous laughter, such and so many blinding bright lights, splashing all over the pages in a million bits and pieces all of which were words, words, words, and each of which were alive forever in its own delight and glory and oddity and light. There is no Frigate like a Book By Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away Nor any Coursers like a Page Of prancing Poetry. This Traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of Toll; How frugal is the Chariot That bears the Human Soul!

It's well known that many military intelligence heroes of the second World War, the men and women of Bletchley Park who broke the apparently unbreakable Enigma code, were crossword fanatics. Less well known is how The Daily Telegraph’s cryptic crossword of 13th January 1942 helped to win the war. Following criticism from readers that the paper's puzzle was becoming too easy, editor Arthur Watson set up a competition in his newsroom. He invited celebrated polymath WAJ Gavin to set a supremely difficult crossword and invited staff and contacts to try to complete it under time-trial conditions. Just five people beat the 12-minute deadline, although one, the fastest, misspelled a word and was disqualified. The puzzle was reprinted in the next day's newspaper so that everyone could have a go. Unknown to staff at The Telegraph, the War Office had got wind of the goings on, and were watching events keenly. Many of the contestants who had taken part in the newsroom time trial, or who had submitted answers to The Telegraph's offices, were surprised several weeks later to receive a letter inviting them to come to the War Office, where a member of the General Staff 'would very much like to see you on a matter of national importance’. Many of those interviewed went on to work at Bletchley and in other intelligence roles. The full Daily Telegraph crossword from 13th January 1942 is reproduced below, and answers appear at the bottom of the page. What may surprise you is how different a 1940s cryptic crossword is to that commonly published today. Cryptic crosswords today almost all follow rigid rules, known as “Ximenean”, after the great Observer crossword setter Ximenes. Those rules were summed up as saying that a good clue should contain: “1. A precise definition; 2. A fair subsidiary indication; 3. Nothing else.” As you will see, the 1942 clues are anything but codified and feature a mixture of general knowledge questions, riddles and anagrams, as well as what we would today consider to be classic cryptic clues. Tom Chivers, writing in The Daily Telegraph in October 2014, commented on the cryptic crossword's enduring appeal: 'What people who don’t do them don’t realise about cryptic crosswords is that they’re a battle. They are mental combat between the setter and the solver: there are strict rules of warfare, but within those rules the setter will do anything to mislead and confuse the solver. That’s why a crossword is superior to a sudoku: a computer can set a sudoku, and a computer can solve it, but a crossword is human ingenuity versus human ingenuity, wit versus wit.' One can see why those sharp enough to crack the crossword of 13th January 1942 were admirably suited to work at Bletchley.

We're delighted that best-selling novelist Joanna Trollope will be our special guest speaker at a lunch on 3rd December 2019. Joanna has always championed the cause of good literacy: she says: ‘I’m really saddened by the abiding shame that accompanies not being able to read and write properly – and cheered by the real joy that comes with learning to do both. Joanna has been writing for over thirty years and is well known for her enormously successful contemporary fiction.  She has been described as one of the most insightful chroniclers and social commentators writing today. Born in her grandfather’s rectory in the Cotswold village of Minchinhampton in December 1943, Joanna says: ‘Being born somewhere with a strong local sense, like the Cotswolds, gave me not just a sense of rootedness, but a capacity to value landscape and weather and the accessible richness of community life.' After winning a scholarship to Oxford University, Joanna joined the Foreign Office and then became a teacher of English. She began writing ‘to fill the long spaces after the children had gone to bed’ and for many years combined her writing career with working as a teacher.  By 1980, Joanna became a full-time author and has now written 17 novels, many of which have been translated into different languages and several of which have been the subject of popular TV adaptations. The event will take place in the magnificent surroundings of the Sculpture Gallery at Woburn Abbey thanks to the generosity of Her Grace the Duchess of Bedford. PHOTO: copyright Barker Evans

To celebrate UK Libraries Week, which runs from today until 13th October, CILIP (the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) has been asking people to build their dream library out of LEGO. The amazing results can be seen on Twitter, #LEGOlibraries. There are lots of familiar features, with traditional bookshelves, comfy seating areas and cafes featuring in most of the constructions. Some of the more surprising edifices include a tree house library (made by Hannah), a library for outer space - complete with jet packs for the librarians (made by Lucy, aged 9) - and perhaps the most surprising one (made by Blaine, aged 5), which has a special chimney that puffs out rainbow smells rather than smoke. Library workers may be surprised to hear that in many of the dream libraries their role has undergone dramatic changes; one of the LEGO libraries is staffed by owls (by Lyla, aged 8), while in another (by Callum) books are delivered by drone.

The Solihull U3A Booklovers group, the bookish brains who won this year's Schoolreaders Book Club Quiz with a near-perfect set of answers, celebrated their victory at a special tea last week. They were joined by best-selling author Catherine Alliott, and had a fantastic afternoon chatting about all things literary. Catherine described her journey into writing and shared some of the unexpected back stories to her many novels. Catherine later said how much she had enjoyed her afternoon "They were such a lovely bunch of book lovers ... We had much debate about language and books and literacy - a lot of fun". Congratulations once more to Solihull U3A Booklovers, and many thanks to Catherine for the huge amount of support she has given Schoolreaders.

Schools all over the country are holding a 'Superstar for Schoolreaders' day this term; pupils are dressing up as an inspiring character - anyone from a favourite singer to a fictional character or even a family pet - doing fun literacy activities and raising money for Schoolreaders at the same time. We've just held a competition on Facebook and Twitter to name our 'Superstar' logo. Our winner, Joanne Cregg, has called him Sidney. Congratulations to Joanne, who wins a £20 Waterstones voucher, and thanks to the many others who entered our competition.